Mr Lloyd-George and the Farm.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 5964, 27 July 1912, Page 4

Mr Lloyd-George and the Farm.

The keynote to the policv of the Liberal partv in Britain in regard to Labour problems was given by Mr Lloyd-George a few \roeks ot'.» in apinterview with a retpresiiitathe of the London Daily News and Leader. The Chancellor admitted that the transport and coal strikers had taught their lessons, not onlv to tic Government, but to the nation. Stri'-vs, however, could not be obviated merely by means of a legislative minimum wage. " The rght to .-trike is fundammtal," a sserted Mr l.loyd-Creovge, "but strike are m f'mal rem; dy. \ little levelling up here «r.<l there; that is all they achieve. No ; whenever you begin to probe th:« ; > matters you always ret back to the hind.- It is the agricultural labourer on whom we should concentrate .11tention. He has the lowest wages of all, and all other wag.'; nr.- <l-pressed in consequence. Take the platelayer, for instance, or the porter. How can he make an effective fijht when there are fifty village lads ready to take sn his job ? Consider how far the chain of inlhi"nce> extends. It certainly effects the docker, the carman, and the tramwayman, for all these must encounter,the competition ri the agricultural labourer, not pel Imps directly, but through intermediate trades." ■Mr George was reminded that these were variations in the wages of iarm labourers, some receiving- as much as XI per week, " That is just where the absurdity of the position lies," replied Mr George, and he went on to say that the wages paid in agricultural communities were not ruled bv the laws of supplv- and demand, or -by the productivity of, the soil, or by the distance from markets, but by eustcmi. Agriculture would receive no harm if wages ■ were rais-ed all round to £1 a week. " Then," continued Mr G-eorge. " look at village lif e as it is tr-dav. I would rather die in six months than go back to a youth spent amid conditions- of such dull, grey monotony." In reply to a question as to what steps the Government intend to take to improve wages, Mr George said : He must clear out the slum—whether in city cr village or mining urban district. W> cannot, tolerate the slum any lonirer. And it, from any source, capital is found for housing, it will mean just the demand for bif>our which will be best calculated to lev pi up wages in the village. Once this is effect.-d the figure for wages will not fall again." lit eon-lusion, Mr Llovd George a rlrlcd that decent housing meant health, a real chance for the children, a Mow at indulgence irj liquor, a nd a help to all the decencies of life.